Ken Howells Hang Gliding & Paragliding Flight Log

Light SE and warm. Rode Sandy Van to UM with a bunch of others, including Roy Haggard. SE enough that I walked to the lower launch. Managed to not launch 1st or 2nd for once. Good launch at 13:55 into lift at the house thermal, got a few hundred over. Higher at Cloud but some wonky bumps and surges. Got over 5,200. Not yet cold in t-shirt and gloves, but would be if I stayed up high. Otherwise very comfortable. Went W a couple of times, over UM a couple of times. Good landing at 14:59.

Santa Anas took a break a day early. Blew in at LZ and UM for a few hours, not CRS. Had some cycles fade after I inflated, so dealt with that. Ended up standing well below launch with the wing inflated and a large bush in front of me. Dropped the wing and extraction still was arduous. Took a while to transport up and sort out. Had my shirt off to cool off (very warm) and spread the wing this way and that. Another inflation and fading cycle and I said "next one's the last one". The inflation after the next one was very nice, good kiting, trotted off the slope and lifted away a little. Soared the drop-offs for a couple of passes, otherwise pure sledder. Landed well on the apron 50 yds from the grass. Called Gene for a ride - no hiking after all that! Fun overall!

Unexpected steady SE to ESE at UM. I tried inflating by the railroad ties and pulled up ok but had turned the wrong way so had to spin the other way real quick; didn't keep wing flying. Then I had a strong inflation but the right tip lines got caught on the railroad ties so I dumped that one pretty quickly. Walked down to the HG ramp and had a good launch into SE 15 or so. Steady from the SE but not popping me right over the top as expected. Was just surfing a couple of hundred off the spine. Did a few passes then went for the east side of Cloud Peak. Stronger and pretty bumpy there; got high enough to go back to UM but went to RGNLS then decided to go to the 750. I used 1/2 speedbar to penetrate the SE flow at an acceptable rate. Flew by folks on the 750 then out LZ-way. Mostly ESE there so I stayed E of the LZ. Had climbed back up to 750 height without trying to so I pulled big ears and circled to get down to approach height. Good approach and landing in the middle of the LZ. Used speed system to accelerate on dive to roundout. Think it helped.

Post Santa Ana Pre-frontal. Rain maybe coming late
Post Santa Ana Pre-frontal. Rain maybe coming later, virga over Baldy. Steady 7 WSW at the 750. Setup quickly. Easy conditions but I was having trouble inflating. It turned out the A-riser speed system line on the left had gotten snagged on part of the harness, so it came up crooked every time. Finally had a nice inflation and stately launch with immediate slow gains. Mostly slope lift, concentrated in places to over 1k FPM up (but not for long). Made my way up to below Cloud Peak. Climbed and sank; decided I wanted to get over UM and then land before the rain came. Got 3900 at Cloud then went to UM, got up on the face. Once above Marshall, my vario was beeping slowly but steadily. Big Ears quieted the beeps, even gave me sink alarms at times. Hovered near the 750 and did an approach with ears that was just 20 feet too high. Should have aborted and tried again, but of course I flew past and down and never got up again. Had a great landing and kite to the SW corner of the structure, where the cone was for some reason. Nice landing near the PG cone at 14:00. Good hike up without the jacket. Sweaty but not out of breath. As I got to AJX in my truck there were just a few microdroplets on my windshield. Great flight!

Clear and cool. 12 S cycles at launch. Good inflation and pause, then launch fair. Got 100 feet above launch. It was almost soarable. Great fun scratching in these little gusts in the canyons. People were soaring up above. Maybe I was a little early. Good landing. Well, okay landing, but I was right at the paraglider cone, just a little past, and my paraglider fell straight down onto it. Good hike up to get my truck.

Clear, warm, sorta prefrontal. Ride from Gene with Dale and Jack. Good steady 10-12 SW at RGNLS. Good inflation and run down slope. Was skimming the slope when I pulled a little more break and got away from the slope. Took some work at Last Chance to get up initially, then it was easy. Got to 5,300 with PG Dale over Cloud then rounded UM and back to RGNLS spine an SW, still high. Worked easy lift back up again, decided to fly out front and descend so I could catch a thermal near the slope and work it up. Flew N toward LC and found no lift. Had to glide straight to the Pond then to the LZ and approach. Nil wind at the LZ, landed gently on my butt and slid forward and then the wing fell in front of me. Oh well. Very fun flight, just what I was looking for.

Clear, soarable, some high cirrus. Was going to get a ride to RGNLS but Jeff Boehler offered to drive my truck down from the 750. A couple of dudes on launch got the intro info from Jeff while I set-up quickly; getting late. Nice cycles coming in. Made a wall then inflated, kited stepping left a few, then launched cleanly. Very glad for that with the spectators there. You can hear them on Jeff's launch video. A couple of passes in front where I climbed slightly, then S turns all the way down the slope. Lift above the ranch house, but I was too low. Good landing and a moment's kiting. Got exhausted walking the PG to the structure - some med or physical issue has come up. Very glad I didn't have to hike. Fun, got what I wanted.

Cooler and clear. Pre-pre-frontal. Didn't want a sledder so called Gene. Breezy cycles at RGNLS; ended up inflating on top and kiting before launching. Climbed right away from the slope. Got up from Cloud to 5k+ and did some E-W-E point-to-point cruising. Relaxing. Climbed the Cloud spine again after Last Chance. Out over the campus parking and then back to the bluffs and a short butt-slide landing in what looked like zero but was actually a little N. Oh well. Could have flown far/long if motivated (and gloved) but just relaxing up there for a while was good. Too easy, actually. No tension and resolution; no hike.

Warm and clear. Looked promising. Good launch, sank right away. Fun scratching at the bluffs. Good landing. Hike not as hard. Got home in time to see the first pitch of the Dodgers vs. Yankees in the World Series.

Hot and clear. Light SW cycles. Some ground handling issues then good inflation and launch. Just enough lift to maintain in front of launch for a while before sinking and feeling for lift N of the LZ. Good landing (way short). Hike was hard again, but faster.

Hot and clear. Nice inflation and brief kiting then launch into a weak cycle coming up the nose. Fun S-turning down the slope. Nice tiptoe landing a few feet from the PG cone. Of course there was no one there to see it. Hike was hard from not doing it. Many pauses.

Cooler with a bit of thin high haze at times. Got out of shape ground-handling in a SE cycle and ended up flailing around trying to be clever with the wing for a while. Two PG's arrived on foot and I launched a minute or two later. Slow S-turn sledder with some bumps all the way to the LZ. Good landing, wing flipped and it took a while to sort the lines out on one side. Too brief but fun. Got the vapors at the start of the hike and then just plodded up the trail smoothly.

My 1st flight since the forest closure for the Line fire was lifted. Hot and clear. Clean no-fuss inflation and launch into lifty air. Narrow and drifty cores but lift around them. Never got more than a little above launch but was more than 1/2-wy down several times. Very fun and engaging. Great tippy-toe landing and a bit of kiting with not a soul there to see it. Flytec vario. Hike was slow because I haven't done it in a while.

Warm but not too hot. S cycles at launch. After some ground handling hijinx I had a good inflation and launch and found lift just W of launch, S-turning along the road until well above launch. Climbed on up Cloud spine. Several good climbs, got 5,400 or so halfway back to Crestline; bumpy layer, didn't go. Finally saw an HG back at BB. Did some long glides, went to the afterbay. Got down by the 750 and floated around for a while, feeling it out. Felt good for landing but twice I was starting final and pulled big ears and did not descend as I flew past my truck, so I landed at the LZ. There was a low save in there. Caught the Gene ride to the 750. Very fun flying.

Just 100 F. Hot and sweaty on the dusty 750 set-up area, I felt like the lone practitioner of the sport. Nobody at the LZ, nobody in the air. Thought I'd get up and fly around a bit. DigiFly Air was DOA after not being on the charger for a couple of days, so I flew with a Flytec. Walked into a steady S cycle at launch and, after pausing, went for it instead of waiting for the next cycle. Sank more than I liked but found the core of the cycle and got a few hundred above launch easily. Floated around and settled-in and then was down by the Pond again. Caught a very weak developing core by turning away from the cliff and thermalling very efficiently for a few circles as it turned on. Was soon on my way up the Cloud spine with that one and shortly high enough to start thinking about Crestline. At 5,800 just N of Cloud I went on glide for Crestline and only lost a few hundred on the way. Bright Orange HG setting up there; turned out to be Mario with SO's new wing (and SO). Easy ridge soaring. Went to BB and then slowly to Pine then back to RGNLS on the more direct East spines. Bit of headwind the whole way. Up again at UM then back to CRS and Mario was airborne. We flew together at BB a bit then over to UM. I went out to land and found it quite buoyant. Was stuck at 3,100 for a bit. Finally dove it in after about 10 minutes and as the streamers were dropping to zero I opted for landing on the wheels and belly. Fun flight! Slow hike for truck.

Only 95+ F or so for the second day. Yesterday was windy and cross so I didn't fly. Nice SSW cycles. Took my time and a tandem PG appeared as I was hooking up and sorting lines. They got back up over a few minutes, then it was still for a (slightly uncomfortable) few more. Good inflation and kiting then it spun and collapsed without me really feeling it. Got it sorted without unhooking (!) and built several walls getting it situated in the shifting breezes. Got it inflated and kited, taking only a step or so right before actually launching. In and out of a narrow lift area above the lower streamers. Sank to trees and decided landing was fine. Found lift just E of the LZ again but let it drift away as I zero-sinked in it briefly. Good landing on the toes and then a few feet of kiting closer toward the PG cone. A very satisfying little flight, actually. Shook the cobwebs out, felt good ground-handling. Wing is very dusty! Left knee better on crouching to pack-up. Hiked up to get truck at a pretty leisurely pace, stopped at Pond in shade and then several times on the trail (not in shade) to breathe and drink. Met Gene driving down. Tired legs at home.

Arrived at launch and observed for 25 minutes (+cans). Not too hot, good S-SW cycles. Good inflation and kiting before trotting off to the SW. A little back and forth then sank and was resigned to landing. All flags pointing to just east of the LZ and I found lift and turned in it at about 200 AGL. Went up, kept turning, no sudden dump at the edges. Thermalled right up the Cloud Spine (well away) and topped-out above 5,600 so I very cautiously went for the Billboard area. Didn't know how windy it was up there. Flew around BB for a few minutes then back out front to RGNLS and UM, where people were still milling about. Stephen came up with a tandem. Got up from Cloud again and went back to the back ridge again, just for a look. Nice strong cores without sharp edges at all. Very comfortable flying. Nice being high in the PG. Made a close pass to the 750 but decided to commit to landing just a hair late; uneventful fly-by. headed for LZ and found lift down low again, ended up diving at the 750 again but it was bouncy when I got there. Wnet out and had a great, gentle landing on my toes heading W and kited a fair number of yards before dropping the wing. No one there to see it! Good hike up to get the truck. It was like a bunch of little adventures.

First flight in a while; been staying off the hard-to-bend-more-than-90 knee. Second day after peak of a heatwave, only 100 F in the valleys. Took the 3PM van to UM with a group. Breezy when we got there, steady. I got my gear out after ten minutes there. Good inflation, turn, kite. Drifted right and back a little but got under it and leaned forward and got off the hill nicely. A few traversing passes and I was several hundred feet up. Cores going to 4,700 quickly, then bouncing against the inversion. Lots of big ups and downs after topping out a thermal, but nothing violent. I was using moderate speedbar to get to places and down to interesting altitudes. Stayed wary. Eventually went out to land, did several lazy S turns upwind of the LZ to let lift go by. After going N over the parking lot I banked right and started dropping fast. Brought it around into the wind above the HG training hill and then after gliding forward a second or two I dropped straight down from 15 or 20 feet. It shows on the GPS track! Not too hard on the legs but did go butt to heels on my feet. Something might have popped back into place. Fun flight, not much challenge. Good exploration of the nuances of bump tolerance.

Hot and inverted. About 100° F in Berdoo. Vista fire broke out around noon way up in Lytle Creek. Fire bombers flying over the house but only the occasional spotter or helo flew over the LZ. I dropped in around 2 then left and went back to fly around 4. HG from AZ had reported the stable conditions I had expected. Cleaned up a little at launch and felt a few good cycles about 45° cross from the right. Was thinking about bailing but decided the flight & especially the hike would be good for me. Nice clean inflation at the top and kited for a few seconds. Trotted off to the SW pretty as you please and was airborne. A little strong core by the lower streamers but I could only S-turn the edges of it for several passes. Then was down over the 350 Launch with several bumps I found to traverse back and forth in. Very engaging, wary of unexpected sink close to the hill. Headed in to land into light SW from 200 AGL above the training hill. Good landing with the HG cone 20' to my left. Kited it for a few steps. Tim Ward was at the LZ for the first time in a few months, walking around fine, and he gave me a lift to the Pond for my hike up and that was very welcome! Good hike. Satisfying flight.

Hot summer day, inversion. Had a strong cycle as I walked the wing to launch so I decided to just go! Booming thermal just right of launch, beamed-up to 4k and then 5k N of UM in a few minutes. Sank before heading N so back out to UM. Lots of brief weak cores, nothing to settle in and climb with. Cloud Peak and RGNLS similar. It was as if stable air had moved in. After trying UM again I was down above the 750 and found a narrow core heading ENE. It got wider and I had an easy climb to above UM. More hunting around for decent lift. Got a nice core from Last Chance / RGNLS and got 5,300 or so and drifted back to the spine W of CRS launch, got up easily against the slope, then to 5,500. Flew with Ed Haley, who was flying the US 166 I had done the used sail swap on the day before! Went over to Pine losing only 400, and some stronger cores got me to 5,682 feet before the inversion stopped us. Vario says 1,400 FPM up max. It had been about 1:40 airtime and I was feeling my elbows, so I headed out to land. Flew S and turned left over the elementary school then straight for the LZ. Buoyant there, asked a kiting PG to clear the middle of the LZ. Wasn't losing altitude on downwind and base as much as I wanted. Threw in a quick S-turn and was still going to be landing pretty far past the middle of the LZ (near the kiting PG's!) Was heading about 15 degrees left of the SW wind and too low to turn more. Came down on my feet between the cones and the PG's but had a lot of side-vector and went to my knees, taking out the VG-side downtube. COMPLETELY forgot that I had the (outboard) basetube wheels on and could easily have opted to land prone when I saw things going awry. Dammit!
Replace AT 68 downtube

Under 100 F, inversion below CRS. Several inflate-and-drops, no bushes or walks up launch involved. Good inflation, brief kiting and launch from the top in a building cycle. Found lift in bowl West of launch right away and scratched on up. Tight cores low and I was happier when I got some terrain clearance (and swift climb). First went to UM but not really great there. Good climbs to the inversion at 4.7k from Cloud and RGNLS. Flew above Jordan tandem a little, otherwise alone in the sky. Ready to land after an hour. Flew low over the 750 for a bit. Great landing between the cones but still sat back on my butt slowly. Reinflated and kited halfway to the shade structure.

(log from folder & GPS) Got back up to Crestline, went to Pine,etc.

(log from folder & GPS) Sledder.

Good hot day. Light S cycles at the 750. Good inflation and ran down the slope without lifting away. Slid through the brush at the bottom of the slope, technically off the ground, for what seemed like 10 yards. Pulled away from the terrain and flew out into lift on the main spine that I caught on the 2nd circle. Quickly up to 3k+ and then 4k between Cloud Peak and UM. Much smoother than the day before but still some strong cores and big bumps. Back and forth between UM and RGNLS with stops to thermal, occasionally seeing well over 1k FPM lift. Got to 5,200' MSL about halfway between Cloud Peak and CRS. Stopped by the inversion. Alone in the air until 17:10. Made some low passes over the 750 thinking about top landing but it was still pretty active; didn't want to overshoot into turbulence. Got good and low though, could have pulled ears and landed one time. Went out toward the LZ and discarded altitude over the tree line. Good right-hand approach from the NW corner, no big ears. Landed 30 feet to the side of the PG cone, gently on my feet and kited it toward the shade structure for a ways before losing it. Not a soul there to see my landing! Good slow hike to my truck at the 750. My freshly sharpened machete was much better at slicing brush and I ended up doing more trimming than I had planned. Also forgot to drink my half-a-Monster before I left to go flying. It still worked out OK :) Also, replaced the battery in my DigiFly Air, for which Donato had sent me an Amazon link. Two dabs of solder and it was back to life. Rigged it over one of the Flytecs and it was great to fly with, though I couldn't see it most of the time. Had to remove my sunglasses to read the olive-on-black altitude on the main screen. There IS a screen that just shows altitude and vario numbers very large - next time. Fun to have the stats for my flight and a GPS track in Google Earth again. USB cable socket on the Air is a little quirky, so I'll have to place the instrument with care when charging. Had to use Bluetooth to connect to Windows 10.

Hot summer day with low inversion. Strong cycles at RGNLS. Arrived at 15:30 and managed to watch & wait for a while. Jordan launched tandem and climbed to about 4k after 5 minutes. Watched Mark Hoffman scratch HG just to my west at eye-level before sinking to Last Chance and then shooting up. Good launch on the 2nd inflation, running mostly in my intended direction. Was soon at Last Chance looking for lift. Found a narrow core with 1k+ FPM up at the very core. Rode it cautiously to above RGNLS, then higher. Bumpy air. Some non-turning elevators up. Over to Cloud Peak and UM vicinity with more skinny bullets and lots of side-to-side rocking. Realized I was worrying about the turbulence more than having fun so I went over the LZ to land. Got down to 900 AGL and there was lift all over the place. Got anxious then reminded myself to just be patient and after a few minutes west of the LZ I found some sink to core and did a mostly right-hand approach to a decent landing in sight of the PG cone. Speed system can catch on my kneepads - check before landing.

Hot summer day with low inversion. Launched into a S 7 cycle and hunted on the spine to the right for a few minutes before following a tiny core into the bowl east of launch. It developed nicely and went NE then eventually NNE at a few hundred FPM for a casual climb to just below 4k. It got iffy so I dove to in front of UM. Not much activity over there so back to Cloud spine and a little climb then good climbing off Last Chance / RGNLS back to 4,100. Many thermals would be 1k+ FPM until they slammed into the slowly rising inversion layer. Got 4.4k a couple of times. Went out over the LZ area high and picked a promising WSW cycle to land into. As I turned into the wind at the NE apron my airspeed totally went away and I had to do a sideways trotting semi-flare at the corner of the grass. Long walk to the breakdown area! Very fun flight. Good hike to the 750 for my truck.

Good warm day, S gusting to 8. I got to launch an hour later than I had planned. Good first inflation but aborted/slid when I got to the brush line at the bottom o launch, as I wasn't climbing away from the terrain. Nice inflation in a later strong cycle and went off cleanly, drifting to the SW not far from the brush. Tight little cores I wouldn't do 360's next to the hill. Got above launch for a moment, mostly just fun scratching W and E and S of launch over the slopes. Steady WSW at the LZ and I landed very nicely (got two compliments) near the PG cone. Took off my AJX shirt at the pond while hiking back up and hung it from my CamelBak. When I got to the truck the shirt was gone and I was too beat to look for it. The next morning I parked at launch and found it just before the trailhead!

Sail swap for Luke Berger, done at the LZ shade structure after meeting with the developer/planner for the land east of the LZ. We'll lose the east approach and overshoot options but all single-family homes, no 3-storey townhouses. We might be able to get water and electricity. Possibly starting in mid-2025. Planners took tandems recently. Sail swap took about 2.5 hours, no snags, very glad Luke had a big tool box. Sprog heights in the new sail came out within 1/4" of the old sail. Went up to Marshall with Kathy Rhodes as a driver. Left the ramp on the 3rd step and ascended, got above launch and the top very quickly. Thought it might have a right turn first thing off launch but it mast have been the thermal. Worked lots of thermals both directions and no turn. VG pulleys in downtube had been modified by Luke (his back-up wing) and at the LZ I discovered that it wouldn't release - had to pull the rope along the keel to get VG loose. Too tired and out of time to mess with that so I just tied the VG line in a bundle and never pulled it in flight. Still great performance and handling, especially compared to the F3T! Got to 4,800 N of RGNLS bouncing off the inversion. Flew over the water tank below BB but found no lift. Got up again at Cloud then tried going N again, same result, flew out spine N of UM. Saw four guys in the bushes well below the windsock - a PG pilot had had an 80% collapse close to the hill and managed to deploy his reserve. The slope was so steep he slid more than impacted, I heard. It was reportedly quite windy at Crestline earlier and there was at least one HG launch mishap (managed to relaunch). I was ready to land so flew out over the LZ above 3,500 and saw great steady wind so I cored sink to get down and had a nice WNW approach to a little past the HG cone. Flared a little high and plopped down onto knees and basetube, but no forward motion.
Told Luke to fix that VG system and also to put some retention bungees on the sail near the sprogs.

Low inversion and pretty stable. Got barely above launch right away, then over to Cloud Peak and such. Narrow cores that would peter out in the mid-4k's. Saw Rebar Dan and a PG getting up in front of UM so glided back over there and found their strong thermal, got up to 4,500.

Overcast above the mountains still at 16:00 and little to no wind, just a touch better than previous day. Wanted a quick flight from the 750 and good hike back up. Several inflations and aborted launches as the wing flopped around. Was only seeing movement on one streamer at a time, mostly SE. One good and promising reverse inflation had something white and rectangular falling from my east wingtip as I started forward - I didn't know if the wing was falling apart or what; turned out to be a paper towel that had gotten drawn-up with the wing. At 17:00 I had the wing rosetted at the top of launch when Gene Embry pulled up, taking pilots to RGNLS. He offered a ride up and I took it. Not a lot better there, but more breeze and steeper. Couple of floppy failed inflations and then I finally got off the ground. Very smooth in the air but nothing to circle in. Landed rather long because of the no-wind and touched my butt down but popped back up to my feet as the wing collapsed. Good slow hike to my truck.

Overcast and effectively no wind. Just wanted to get a quick flight in and then a hike back to the truck. Nacho managed a reverse inflation and launch and then I waited a while, going through long stretches of no wind, then puffs from the S to SSE. Did a reverse and got it overhead but halfway down launch it fluttered and fell. Another pilot got dropped off and he helped me get set for a forward inflation and again I got it overhead and started running but fell forward into the brush at the bottom of the slope. Likely needed to bend over and run harder and use more brake. He launched on hius 2nd try and then the hiker dude launched with a very hard run. I put the wing in my stuff sack and drove to the store and bought ice cream.

Luke wanted to use my truck rack to take a ladder up to UM to change the windsock, so I had a free driver! Wark and clear, kinda shifty from SW to S and back. Good launch from near the top on the second inflation. Got above launch easily to 4,500 or so. Worked Cloud Peak area and got back up some, then W of Regionals in some turbulence to 4,800 halfway to BB. Got down by Last Chance and found rough, narrow cores close to the slopes. Similar above the 750 and I just got tired of worrying about the hill so I went and landed. Landed on my feet, gently out near the middle of the LZ. First flight with the pre-owned 'Big Boy' harness from Marty Bivens. Very comfortable seat, stirrup made it easy to get my butt back but I found myself pushing against it unconsciously, like pushing on the boot of an HG harness. Flew without it most of the time for easier leg-crossing and to save my thighs for a hike (if needed). Speed stirrup was effective, had 1-1.5" between pulleys so adjusted it after landing. More storage room in the back.

Good strong WSW cycles, hot. Training hill flight to regain trust in my flare-feel; been landing on wheels every time lately. Kind of a lazy launch (Rebar Dan has video) good flight out to the HG cone vicinity, good flare to gentle landing on feet, one-stepper. Felt a little silly about the whole thing, but decided to do a few more anyway.

Good strong WSW cycle, stronger launch pulling in a bit. S-turns out toward HG cone. No-stepper about 4 feet to the side of it.

Ok WWSW cycle, good launch. S-turns out toward HG cone. One-stepper near the cone.

Waited out long weak W and WWNW cycles. Good launch in SW. Flew toward the NW corner of the LZ for breakdown (at Dan's suggestion) wearing his training harness, which he had used for a good flight after my 3rd. Odd flying over that way and into the lee of the building. Hanging several inches higher than normal. Flare was tentative and late so I ended up on my knees, but OK.

Sunny, inverted, cycles and lulls at launch. Picked a good cycle and had a good launch, found lift down the spine right away. Got above launch for a bit then sank to near the pond and got a boomer to 3k. Had a hard time cracking 3k but finally got p and went to West of Regionals (turbulent) and eventually over UM to get 4,300 in the bumpy boundary. Went out to land and landed OK into light S. Flew with forgotten full-face helmet and it was fine; no more switching one helmet from harness to harness. There was a long E turning NE then N cycle at the LZ while a couple of PGs landed (no problems) and then Peter Wurr landed from NE downwind and plopped to the ground hard. Broke a downtube and tore the sail, at bridle patch, of his S2 135. Surprising damage. Sail could be repaired, but by whom?

Hazy, late burn. Cycles from SSW every few minutes. Good inflation and launch and found lift to the right immediately. Got above launch slowly in core(s) drifting to NE. Got weak and bumpy in that flatter area NE of the 750 and I left that lift after some unproductive circling. Missed one rocket core to the west of launch and then sledded down to the LZ. OK landing in sight of the PG cone. Just enough airtime. Hiked up to get truck.

Warm and breezy. Good inflation at the top of the slope, SSE flow required that I stand there and kite a minute - felt good. Vario shut off as I launched, went right and found buoyant air, turned vario on, found lift and cored-up nicely. Was above RGNLS shortly with 1k up at times. Got to 4,700 NW of RGNLS from Last Chance and it was very bumpy so I declined going for more altitude and Crestline. Went to Cloud then sank heading for UM, back up on Cloud spine. Had some surges while transiting cores. Was thinking I'd land at the hour mark. Was 4k S of Cloud and saw a PG spiralling down NW of the 750 on purpose. Saw Gene park his truck near the 1k launch and walk N on the road, looking over the edge. Spotted a PG laid across the brush on a spine above the lower road from the canyon. Saw pilot moving around a little, but didn't get very low to look. Saw the white X on the LZ and heard sirens and a helicopter at the same time. Did big ears straight to the LZ. Fire engine and crews there by the time I landed (right next to the PG cone!). They said a guy had had an asymmetric collapse and spiralled in, I said I had seen him moving around. Packed up quickly so helo could use LZ. Also helped fold Noel's U2. There were two helicopters working the scene. I had planned on hiking up to get my truck from the 750 and had a machete to clear the overgrown parts of the trail on the way. Went ahead on up, clearing the road between the pond and the 350 took 1/2 hour and was harder than expected. Mustard and other thin-branched brush folded more than cut. After the 350 I just hiked and saw a helo winching the guy up, I think. Trimmed a little more near the top of the trail. Threw the machete downslope once. It will take a few more passes to get the trail really clear again. There were two police units at the 750 when I arrived. They said the PG pilot was scratched up but no broken bones or anything, he had been taken to the hospital. I drove down to the LZ and heard that a pilot (Mad Mitch) had gotten to him and he'd been somewhat incoherent. Gene had been trying to phone and radio the guy but got no response. Pilots were pretty good about clearing the air and then not launching until the rescue was over. I had considered landing at the 750 and driving down but my landings aren't that strong yet. Never thought that I could have landed and driven over to help the pilot (until later, at home). Report on Monday was that the pilot had no major body injuries but was in an induced coma due to brain swelling.

Before launch I turned the right tip up one notch, for one-up/one-down. Better too much than too little. Earlier burn than yesterday. Good launch into SSE flow, got over top right away. Trim great, slight right turn. Much more fun to fly. Got 4,700 at Cloud then later found a core at 4,500 halfway between Regionals and Billboard. Got just 5,200 and went for spine below BB. Sink near the slope and then lift in the west bowl so I got over the top to 5,300 and change. Chilly up there. No other gliders, just weak ridge lift. Was East of launch and a topless came from UM. Went out front and lower for warmer air. Played around UM and RGNLS, fun soaring in tight cores that took some effort to get the feel for. Over the LZ high and seeing good SW wind there were dawdling PGs below me so I worked zero sink for a while. Straight West dropping to zero as I finally set up approach so I landed on wheels again, rolling right beside the HG cone. Untwisted right tip 1/2 notch after landing. Put glider in storage container. Good to go.

Damaged on highway, Eric Muss-Barnes. Replaced left rear LE, inspected. Expected high trim speed due to heavy basetube/wheels setup, training hang loop behind main. Had to return from Northpark Blvd. for the friggin basetube. Hazy, late marine layer burn. Sledded off CRS to Cloud Peak area. Trim fast by a few MPH (Hall airspeed missing), was pushing out at least 2". Left turn eventually became obvious. Hard to turn right into lift. Scratched above and in front of 750 area for about 30 minutes. Thermals were drifting NW, tiny cores. Fun but tiresome. Over the training hill at 2,200 MSL found lift that went WNW along the faces before turning up the canyon. Fun slow climb to 3k in that one. Came out to land heading SE and opted for wheels and belly, very soft. Moved hang loop back 5/8" and twisted left tip down 1 notch.

Light onshore, late burn and hazy. 10+ SW at Regionals. Good inflation and launch. Went right and took 20 minutes to get above launch in squirrely cores hear the hill. Was between two cores and had a near-50% collapse, not unexpectedly. Had me a little on-edge for the rest of the flight. Bumpy up at 4,500 ("cloudbase") so descended and stayed below. Easy thermalling. Did big ears in front of Regionals and still went up for a bit. Patient setup over LZ in buoyant air and good approach. Gentle landing short of PG cone but still sat down. Very satisfying flight.

Warm and light onshore. First HG flight since Autumn 2022. Was going to rest at launch after walking down (still get tired easily after colostomy-reversal surgery) but there was a nice cycle after 30 seconds so I launched and climbed easily. Felt great to be back in the saddle again, flying prone. Some strong cores and I had to remember to use more muscle to keep from getting rolled out a couple of times, but no problem. Thermals slowed at 4,300 but broke through several times and got 5,500 or so. Went back Marshall spine to above Highway 18 but was at 5k and no lift found so turned back. Gloves on 3rd time to 5k. Buzzed Regionals then climbed from last chance to 5,400 in fast drifting (NE) lift. Was heading out to land and got lift above Mark Hoffman so thermalled with him a bit. Over the LZ at 4k and found sink to core. Not much wind on the ground, PGs just laying there. Came in from N for the HG cone and at the last second the bars felt heavy so I decided to 'just roll it in' but it was too late and I was descending too fast. Whacked pretty hard but let go in time and the lush grass meant no scrapes. So good to HG again!

Drove to the 750. Forecast to be high day but the peak came at noon instead of 2 PM. PG's launched CRS at noon and got 10k, went to Palmdale. Inversion came in after that. I had the wing go nose down behind me once on launch. Used wind and brakes to right it but it picked up at least two large stones (1 lb) that I found when folding up. Good inflation and launch but only hit a couple of narrow cores; circled low over the training hill. Some S to land into. Overshot the PG cone a little and ended up in a crouch so wide and low I couldn't stand back up! Two big gaggles of at least a dozen wings each over Regionals and Cloud spine; not much lift elsewhere. Thought about flying again but I was breathing hard and felt spent after folding the wing so I went home after getting a ride to my truck.

First time launching a PG from Crestline in decades! Light wind, low heating day. Was going to drive to the 750 (and likely sink out quickly) but Rebar Dan offered me a ride to Crestline. Many PGs there when we arrived. Laid out and inflated easily, decent launch. Went to W spine and circled twice before heading to Regionals; cleared it easily. Scratched on the middle of the Cloud spine for a long time. Close to the hill in tight cores, kept losing it at 3,300 MSL - weak inversion, I think. Much work and fine-tuning but much fun. Felt abs a bit (from yesterday) at 30 minutes but never developed cramps. Finally broke through in a violent core and it was easy above 3,500. Went W and worked the bowls, got up with effort. Went over the LZ to land at the hour mark but the flags were all slack and occasionally pointing straight E. Found the thermal at 400 AGL and drifted NE with it waiting for breeze in the LZ. Ended up back above the 750! Went to LZ again, still not much breeze but landed heading S, past PG cone 15 yards, after a right-hand approach. Much circling near the slopes, thermalled under and close to a PG a couple of times. Kraut dog and salad after breaking down. Ahhh!

Hazy day, light breeze SE to SW at launch. Good inflation and ok launch (near brush - start higher on slope) Found weak lift at Cloud spine and scratched close for a bit before it consolidated and I proceeded to climb the spine. Was joined above by Jordan tandem. eventually got even with him at 4,500. Comfortable circling in 300-500 FPM and tracking well. Got a bit higher and went to Marshall, got above 5k there. Flew to Regionals using only weight shift, for practice. Out over Last Chance found steady lift back to 4,600. Flew west to well above recent plane crash site and saw debris and retrieval team (and helicopter). Back to Last Chance and below Regionals, had to hunt around for some lift then got to 5k again N of Regionals. A bit chilly. Fingers were getting tired from the brakes. Flew toward LZ then W above 4k. Did Big Ears for the 1st time with this wing. Slowly descended SW of LZ, where all the flags were slack and the PGs not kiting. Circled at 350' AGL for a long time waiting for the lift to drift N of LZ and provide some wind for landing. Flags stirred but by the time I was on final it was zero wind again. Overshot the PG cone by about 20 yards. Went to one knee again and the glider collapsed in a wad. Great flight! No abdominal muscle issues from recent surgery. Very satisfying.

Haze and some high clouds, pre-pre-frontal. Rode the Sandy

Clear and warm, light S to SW cycles. Drove my truck to the 750. PGs overhead. Great inflation and good launch. Two sharp bumps right in front of launch. Went back and forth a little, couldn't complete a circle in lift. Training hill sock was pointing to a thermal to the ESE but I waited too long before looking for it. Landed OK between the cones.

Got a ride to Regionals. SW gusts to 10 there, PGs soaring. Good inflation then had to tiptoe right a few steps before pushing down the hill and away. Lift SW of launch, then scratched bumps further to the SW for a bit. Caught a good thermal and got above launch height with other PGs thermalling nearby. Good practice adjusting circles around the cores with well-timed brake adjustments. Got to 4,800 and went for UM, tagging 5k there. Out front and down, then another thermal up from the 750 to 4k+ hitting 1k+ FPM at times. Eventually got to 5,400. Cool but comfortable. Nice relaxing in the air, guessing altitudes right and such. Went SW of the LZ at 4k+ to descend and land. Other PGs tiickling from the 750 area made traffic. Avoided one on the ground and landed between the cones again, slipping forward a little. Great flight! Nice hike up to get my truck.

Clear with a very thin haze way up high, little wind flow. Identified a good SW cycle and had a great inflation & launch. Maintained at launch level for a few passes then scratched S of the pond. Didn't want to 360 close in to the face. Good approach and landing (kited for a few steps) still quite short of the PG cone. Many pilots up high were staying high; some got low and sank out. Nice hike back up for my truck.

Sunny and warm, steady 5+ WSW at launch. Good 2nd inflation and launch from near the top. Floated in front of launch and then flew back and forth, barely losing altitude. Worked thermals and ridge lift at the drop-offs below launch. Good scratching but not struggling. Several tight cores that were a challenge to stay with. Got just above launch a few times, out front. Hit some big sink E of lunch a couple of times, left a couple of promising cores there too. Declined circling close below a mostly descending PG. Buoyant over the Ranch house and very W at the LZ. Set up a good approach, I thought, but barely made the grass at the NE corner. Landed on my feet and kited a little way across before dropping the wing and gathering it up. Good hike to get my truck.

Clear and warm with a little haze. SW 5-10. Decent launch on 2nd inflation. Scratched the bowl west of launch at launch level for about 10 minutes before climbing a few hundred above. Felt great. Wider thermals took me to above Cloud Peak, hearing 1k up for brief moments along the way. A bit bumpy at the inversion layer around 4,300. Worked on timing with the turns, waiting longer after hitting lift, etc. Got comfortable using less brake. New thin biking gloves much better than my HG gloves. Went out S of Last Chance and descended, then climbed above Regionals again, did some A to B glides. Hit a bumpy patch at the inversion and decided to descend out front a bit. Very Buoyant way over the LZ. Good landing on my feet short of the PG cone, best one this year! Really great to finally have a long soaring flight. Felt great up in the air. Wore shorts and tee shirt with insulated vest over it. Very comfortable in the air, excellent for the hike up to get my truck (sans vest).

Very nice day, warm, pre-pre-frontal. No gloves needed. Wouldn't have worn a jacket except I need it to protect my ostomy bag; sweaty. Good cycles. Watched a PG from Regionals keep missing thermals on the way to the LZ. Tom Swanson launched ahead of me and sank before climbing out of sight. I tried turning to the right before doing the reverse Inflation, thought it might be better for having the A's in my left hand, C's in the right. Numerous Inflation attempts but I wasn't flailing or getting dragged around, just kept dropping the right tip. Good practice using the wind to get the wing sorted back out. Finally went to the usual left turn for reverse and just used the A's & brakes like I've always done. Got it up overhead but in a fading cycle. Launched and skimmed the bottom of the harness through brush before the slope dropped away. Good and stable in the air. Some very tight cores I wasn't willing to crank-and-bank in enough. Good landing into almost 0 SW between the cones. Dropped to a knee but got back up and steered a little as the wing fell to the ground. Had toyed with the idea of hiking up to get my truck since the left foot was feeling pretty good but caught a ride to the 750 from Gene. Supposed to be flyable tomorrow but might be blown-out. Rain arrives early Thursday.

Bought wing this morning from Stephen. Clear and light S 5-12 at the 750. I drove up intending to hike up for my truck after the flightPG's soaring Marshall. Much easier to inflate; launched 3rd try. Used A's & C's again. Got above launch quickly but the thermals were very narrow. Heard my vario scream like 1k up for a second or two a couple of times. Flew E-W passes then went out and landed when I got below the 350. OK landing dropping to a knee and the wing to my left. Decided to go up and fly again, if I could.

Packed up quickly and caught Nicole's shuttle to Regionals. Devin was taking a girl from Chicago tandem. Jack was there when we arrived, said it had been blowing very hard. Devin had a little trouble with the crosswind but got off fine. I had one inflation go up with the right tip and then put it cells-down. Decided to try doing the A's & C's with the A's in my left hand, since I'm left handed (doh). Much better control. I pulled it up with the tips kind of a mess and was able to fly it until they popped out then turned and trotted over the bushes low on launch. Very nice in the air. Need to adjust my harness so I can get my butt back into the seat better. Worked some weak lift at Last Chance then did a mellow glide to the 750 area. Nice to actually relax in the air for a few minutes. Scratched my way down to the last drop-offs. SE at the LZ so I flew up the power lines (just east of them) for a right-hand approach to the PG cone from NW. As I turned for my East leg the glider sank like a rock and by the time I realized I wasn't going to clear the fence between the Ranch and the property next door I was out of options. Absorbed the impact with the fence by planting my left foot on the wide wooden fence post. The post leaned and my thigh held and I didn't really hit the fence itself. The wing went east over the fence and into brush. My left shoe had come off. I was hobbling a little but able to walk. A couple of visiting Euro gents got my wing out of the tumbleweeds while I walked don to the LZ. Packed the wing up using Stephen's method (Flake TE, then gather LE ribs, then roll it up from the TE) and got my CamelBak out of the harness. Walked up to where Gene was parked and got a ride to the 750 for my truck. Ice on foot as soon as I got home.A little lump in top of the arch.

Sunny with light SE-SW breeze, some light N cycles at Crestline. Chilly N winds yesterday. Thermal cycles coming through Regionals, 0-15 MPH. Brian launched and got up over to the SW without doing tight turns. Jack went more out front and climbed a bit. Didn't see much after that, as I sorted my gear. Brake line snagged on vegetation and killed the first inflation. Did the second one holding A's and C's (thanks Gene) and it stabilized and I turned and launched smoothly at 14:25, though I had to let go of the brakes to disentangle them. Had a twist in my left riser but it was all in the extension-strap; lines were good. Climbed just SW of launch and dealt with some strong surges. Did numerous S-turns and some 360's heading over Last Chance. Very comfortable. Went on a glide to N of the 750 and worked some lift there closer to the terrain. Maintained in thermals for a few minutes. All felt very familiar and relaxed. Got over the LZ North apron and set up my approach into the light WSW breeze. Was pointed on a line at the PG cone but landed 100' short at 14:40. Accomplished what I wanted but would have like another 10 -15 minutes of soaring. Next time. The cirrus layer filled in while I was packing up. Jack landed just before me but Brian was nowhere to be seen. Visiting Canadian couple had gone up to Marshall, her to fly her HG, I believe. He flew a couple of nice flights from the top of the training hill with a newly-acquired Falcon 2; used to HG, been PG-ing for a few years.

Pre-frontal day, very windy at Crestline; HGs launching from Marshall. 10-12 SSE flew at the 750 when I arrived at about 13:00. Gave Jeff a ride and he was off & soaring out front quickly. Many PGs up higher. A couple of guys wood had hiked up flew off and soared a little then a sink cycle got them and several others. Wind had been diminishing to occasional cycles. I had several floppy inflations and twigs in lines and such. Had a clean inflation where I remembered to fly the wing right away and got turned forward and tried of like it was totally easy or something. Did several passes E-W over the last drop-offs then was dropping so I went to the LZ and did a nice S-turn approach to within 20' of the PG cone. Landed on my feet. Good hour back up to get my truck.

First flight since surgery last May. Was going to take a tandem last Friday but it was so weak we canceled for a better day. Took numerous Inflation attempts to get it up overhead and remain flying. The wind was mostly very West and I wasn't lining the wing up on the ground well. Eventually things came back to me. Flew through a thermal right off launch then flew more or less straight to the LZ, as planned. Did numerous figure-8's to get down to approach altitude and landed into zero wind on my butt. Linda Salamone, who had hke to the 750 with Brett lightweight PG, filmed my landing. A vertical strap on the front of my harness peeled away my colostomy bag through my t-shirt during launch. I was able to press it back in place while flying and then taped it with some duct tape before hiking back up to get my truck. Next time I'll wear a tight jacket or wrap it with an Ace bandage or something. No vertigo or anything like that. Felt so good to be back in the air!